Thursday, August 31, 2006

Day 17 - Half Marathon Training Schedule Rest or CrosstrainRestI really had a awesome workout yesterday and feeling DOMS today! I love that! I was feeling a little off earlier in the day, can't quite put my finger on it, but I just felt sort of blah and blue. SOOOOO, I called one of my friends who works near by and we met each other for lunch. We used to work together at an optometrist office years ago. She was one of those people who I really liked working with because she did her job and was fun to work with all at the same time. ( Most of the time it's one or the other... ) We met at El Torritios and I had the Chicken Ceasar Salad, dressing on the side and two gigantic glasses of water. They always put way too much dressing on their salads, so I always get it on the side... That was pretty clean eats. My friend is such a goof ball, so I had a nice lunch out.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

It has nothing to do with anything, really, other than the song is stuck in my head...

Day 16 - Half Marathon Training Schedule - 5 mile Tempo Run

Ummmmm, I ended up not working out yesterday. No real good excuse other than I was feeling kinda bummed about the ankle. I know, that's pretty lame. My ankle has nothing to do with my upper body, other than it's all on my body... Today I did not do the scheduled 5 mile tempo run but I did do the UBW that I was supposed to do yesterday, and that felt great. I'm back to doing BFL style weights and went super heavy on the lat pull downs - 110# of resistance on the Bowflex lat tower. I had to keep checking the numbers on the rods to make sure I wasn't cheating myself. I went heavy on everything. I haven't seen weights over 10# dumbbells in months due to tendinitis in my arms, and on the lat tower nothing over 50#. I still have watch it though. Any little twinge is a sign to ease up. I will probably put off running for the rest of this week and see how things go after this three-day-weekend. I also want to take pictures during the first week of September, just to see if there are any changes. I have absolutely no change with the scale weight, so it's gotta be muscle, baby -- and my clothes are fitting better.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Last night, as I was sitting down talking with Michael, I noticed that my right ankle was rather swolen. It didn't hurt, it just felt sore, like a slightly sore muscle, but it was rather puffy and large. I'm not sure what to make of this. I just get my left ankle healed and now my right ankle is doing bizarre stuff. I don't get it. I didn't have any issues running yesterday, I stretched before and after running. I obviously strained something, but I'm baffled. The swelling has gone down but it still feels like a sore muscle. I have upper body weights today, so that won't make a difference in my workout. Tomorrow is another story... I'm supposed to do a 5 mile tempo run but I don't think that would be a good idea right now. I may get in an early morning visit to the gym and do the recumbent bike, just to keep things moving.

I finally found a hydrostatic body fat testing place in my area, but it looks like the availability for it is in October, so I'm thinking, maybe, after the half marathon, I could check it out. This is the same place I had checked into a while back, but there weren't any San Diego locations at the time.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Still purposely not punching the run to be fast. The run felt really easy today, even going up hill. The weather wasn't so humid today, so I think that made the ride a little more pleasant.

Day 13, Sunday - yesterday, was a rest day. I still had the stomach icks. Michael wasn't too thrilled about that, since he wanted to go out and so some social stuff, but I stayed home and had an exiting day with a several loads of laundry and several episodes of HGTV Design Star. I'm baffled about the stomach thing. Everything I eat gets me bloated, not just starchy carbs, grains or dairy... I don't want to go to the doctor so I'm just hoping to ride this out.

Naomi, an American who has lived for the past several months in Dakar, is looking for your old running/athletic shoes, mostly boys/mens, but will take any. She noticed that many who run there use jelly shoes to run in because that's all they have available to them for atheltics. Click on THIS LINK, which will take you to her blog for some of the finer details.

Normally, we use our running shoes for about 300-400 miles and then they're retired, even though they still look okay. A used pair of Asics or Nikes has to be better than running in jelly shoes! I think this is a great idea, and I just wanted to pass along the info.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

1:12:13 = an 11:04 minute mile. I did okay and felt slightly faster than last time I ran the lake route, but my stomach is still not quite right. Yay for today because I cut about 5 minutes off my last 10K run at the lake.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Day 11 - Half Marathon Training Schedule - Rest Or Crosstrain.Rest... Well, sort of. I wouldn't say it's really a "rest" day but I'm not running or doing weights today but I'll be taking down part of the garden at the "new" old house. The squash and cucumbers are done. Once the tomatoes and edamame are done, I think I'm going to call it good for the year, as far as veggies go. I also need to take out the zinnias -- most of them were burnt when we had those extreme temps... I enjoyed them when they were in their glory and I'll reseed them next year since they attracted a variety of butterflies.

I haven't really weighed in this week, and I expect that the scale hasn't moved much, but I can see and feel some changes going on, so it's muscle -- and that's really what I'm going for. I'll do new measurements at the beginning of next month.

Just for my amusement:I wasn't tagged or anything. I'm stealing this one off of Sister Smile's blog.

The book that changed my life: This is a two parter. The first is Things Fall Apartby C. Achebe. As a part of Black History Classes I opted to take to fulfill part of my college history requirements, we read novels and autobiographies instead of text books. I was glued to this book, as I received a lesson in a part of History I never knew much about. It gave me a whole new perspective as a Caucasian peering into a sliver of the African culture. Oh, and I aced the essay questions test on that book, too. The second is Body For Life by Bill Phillips. That's the book that got me started on my road to fitness. I no longer follow the BFL plan to the "T," but it set the foundation for everything I enjoy participating in now, such as running in events and just being more active than my same-aged friends and colleagues. I've kept about 30 pounds off since 2001.

A book I've read more than once: I'm not sure if this counts, but Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. It's my grandson's favorite book and it's a daily/nightly must read... over and over again.

A book I'd want with me on a desert island:Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. I love this book. It expresses some of the superstitions and folklore of part of the Mexican culture (on my mom's side) that I grew up with. In addition, it reminds me of my mom.

A book that made me laugh:The Far Side Gallery by Gary Larson. Yeah, I know it's not anything cerebral, and it's a book of his illustrations, but it's good for a laugh.

A book that made me cry:Other than the high school Algebra book I had in Freshman year, I can't really think of one...

A book I wish had been written:My mom's complete autobiography. She had quite an interesting life and she was one heckofa story teller. She died from colon cancer in 1986 at age 57.

A book I wish had never been written: The same book that made me cry...

A book I am currently reading:Aztec by Gary Jennings. Michael read this one and would constantly give me a recap of what ever chapter he just read. I need to know the finer details now!

A book that I am meaning to read:Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. One of my daughter's favorite books that I have yet to read.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Crosstrain. Lower body workout done! Whew! I kicked my own @$$... I went just a little heavier on both the Bowflex resistance rods and dumbbells. (Leg extensions, leg curls and dumbbell squats.) I could have gone just a little heavier but I'm still being cautious. Being injured really throws a kink into everything, and I don't want to go back there. I also threw in two sets of 100 abs. My stomach is still off so 2 sets of abs was all I could muster.

I've been pretty diligent about tracking my food on Fitday. Since I've put the Syntrax Nectar into the mix, my ratios are much better, not so carb heavy. I also found myself not getting in enough calories some days, so I'm scrounging for something to eat (in the evening) to make up for the deficit. HOWEVER, the past couple of days I've been craving carbs in the evenings. I'm not sure what's up with that, but it could be the stomach icks I've had since Sunday. Don't know for sure.

Other stuff:The windows are installed and look great. Next is the touch-up paint, ceramic tile for the kitchen and sunroom, then a new roof... It will just keep building from there... I hope it gets to a point where it's just little stuff to take care of instead of this (temporary) money pit.

Last night I went with a friend to Fry's, which sells electronics, appliances, computers, etc. He wanted to borrow my Ford Explorer so he could transport his purchase. I went along for the ride to look at refrigerators. He found a 42" plasma screen TV there last week for what seemed like a good price. This week he noticed it was on sale, about $150 less than what he paid, so he went to get a refund on the difference and to buy another TV, the same model 42" plasma screen... He has the one he bought last night hiding at my house just until he can figure out how to tell his wife that he bought 2 TV's... His rationale is that one is for upstairs and the other is for downstairs. He's moving into a new house next month. Michael (my hubbie) thinks this is pretty funny... But if the truth were to be known, Michael would probably do the same thing...

Monday, August 21, 2006

Last night my daughter was channel surfing and came upon VH1 Classics, and one of my favs, Heart, was on singing songs and playing music with Gretchen Wilson, Rufus Wainright, Alice In Chains, Carrie Underwood, Dave Navarro. It was so cool. I was surprised that Gretchen Wilson could belt it out just like Ann Wilson... So cool.

I'm soooooo tired. I didn't sleep well last night. Hubbie was up late looking over bills because he couldn't sleep....It's a vicious cycle, I tell ya! Today I did muster an upper body workout at home with free weights, but I took a nap first.

Today is day 8 of my 8 week half marathon training schedule. I ran an average 11:08 minute mile for a 2.4 mile run in my neighborhood. I have my work cut out, and I'm still gong much slower with a purpose, and that purpose is to NOT HURT MYSELF. I'm hoping to have my average mile (for the 2.4 mile run) in the 8 minute (8:30 would be good) range before the end of my 8 weeks.

All is very quiet on the western front. EVERYONE IS BACK IN SCHOOL!!!! The fall semester at the college started today and both of my kids have classes today. Yeeehaaa! Sometimes I just like having the house to myself, even if it's for an hour or so. I get so much more done.

Today I'm also getting back on track with eating. Yesterday we went to a birthday party for my BIL, and something in one of the foods had to be bad because we all came home sick... I was thinking of calling my SIL to tell her something that she served went bad, but perhaps this is one of those things I should just not bring up because she was so proud of the stuff she served... Oh well. Everyone here is feeling much better today.

Before I forget, I want to shout out to Barbie2Be, who just swam/ran/biked in a TRIATHLON this past weekend! Way to go Barbie2Be!!!!

Saturday, August 19, 2006

1:17:11That's my 10K distance time around the lake today. My PB is just under an hour, something like 59:56ish. My average time is 1:06. I hope I can knock 11 minutes off of today's time in 7 weeks. I am just getting back into running for an event, so I expected to go slower on purpose. I enjoy my long runs at the lake. It was GORGEOUS today - light puffy clouds, temperatures in the high 70's and a nice breeze. Michael even went with me. He hasn't run since the 4th of July 5K we always do, so he finished 10 minutes behind me. I was glad he was there with me.

Thanks, everyone, for the nice compliments. Right now my issue isn't weight, it's mostly body fat percentage. I'd like to be in the 18% to 16% ball park. I've been there before and I'd like to be there again and KEEP it. Also, with a lower body fat percentage, it is likely that my running will get better and stronger, and that's my initial goal.

It's a gorgeous Saturday. I'd better go out and do something outside while it's still this nice.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I did it. I've posted my before pictures for my August challenge on Muscletank. I supposed it could always be worse. I needed to post these so I could be reminded that if I don't do anything it really could be worse. I need to tone up. It's not bad being 126 pounds, but it's the body fat percentage that's throwing me out of whack.

Through trakcing my foods on Fitday, I discovered that I was low in the protein ratio. Yesterday I purchased a cannister of Syntrax Nectar fuzzy navel, soy protein powder, and 8 packs of Accelgels that have protein in them (finally found those!) I also tried Isopure protein drink, it comes in a clear glass bottle, 20 ounces. It's 160 calories, 0 fat & carbs, 40g protein... Looks like Kool-Aid. I chose blue raspberry... Perhaps it's an acquired taste but Perhaps another flavor would taste better???? At least I got my extra protein in for the day...

Today is a crosstraining day. I'll be doing a full on LBW, minus the calf raises.

Went to a Padres game last night. They lost in extra innings to San Francisco.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Day 2 of my 8 week half marathon training schedule is done! Today was either rest or crosstrain, so I chose crosstraining -- upper body weights ala BFL. I haven't really done BFL style weights in a long time due to numerous aches and pains. It seems like I've been doing circuit training for quite a while, so it surprised me to do heavier weights than I had been doing. It sure felt good! Even better, nothing hurt. I'm feeling a little sore in the shins from yesterday, which most likely means the new innersoles I'm trying (per the suggestion from the guy at the little running shoe store that could) aren't the right ones, and I need to go back to what I was using before.

Nutrition is clean. I need to go grocery shopping for more "clean" foods.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Day one of my 8 week half marathon training schedule is done!!! It was supposed to be an easy 2 miler run at an average 12:17 minute mile, but I averaged a 10:30 minute mile on the gym treadmill, and ran 3 miles... I wanted so bad to go faster but I held back -- I didn't want to risk reinjuring my ankle/foot. I had my trusty Ipod with me. I warmed up to "Battle Without Honor Or Humanity," got into my "zone" with "Hot For Teacher," and brought it home with "Enter Sandman." (Of course there were other song in between...) I finished up with some yoga stretches and 100 floor crunches. I feel GREAT! I know a lot of people really don't like running, but for me, it gets me going and rejuvinated. I really missed it!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Yesterday everything pretty much went by the way-side. I don't know what it is, but every time I get with a large group of large people I feel like I have to over eat, like I have to prove something, even thought I know that's really dumb on my part. I ate pretty clean until dessert came out and that was it. Brownies. Lots and lots of brownies in all of their chocolaty goodness. It was day one of TTOTM and I was in a food-mood. I can justify this downfall until the cows come home, but there's no real good excuse. The brownies were awesome and best of all, they aren't at my house. Out of sight, out of mind. Oh, and to the last minute, a couple of friends wanted to see us AFTER the party for a couple of beers at a local micro-brewery. I can't say no to a local brew... I had an apple ale. Am I beating myself up for this day of off the wagon with everything? Not at all. There's no emotional attachement to any of this. It's just food.

Today is more working at the house. Eating has been super clean. I printed out my 8 week half marathon training schedulle. Tomorrow is a 2 mile run. FINALLY!

Friday, August 11, 2006

Wednesday I couldn't check in here at Blogger, but I did get in a workout. I changed things a bit. There's a "small" mountain trail in my neighborhood, so I put on my hiking boots and spent about an hour hiking. It was like doing the stairmaster... I'm feeling my quads... Not too sore but feeling it. It was warm so I was worn out pretty quickly. A friend of mine sort of owed me a favor and took me to a late lunch downtown at a trendy Chinese-Japanese fusion restaurant. I had never been there before and found it to be quite interesting. The decor was modern,red somewhat feng shui - industrial Our food and drink arrived quickly. Everything was excellent. Even my drink was great. The vodka had been infused with red chili peppers... Later, I went to the book store to look for decorating ideas... I went to bed late waiting for my son to return from Los Angeles. He drove up to attend a concert with friends. He came home at about 2 AM. He would have been home earlier but a tire blew on Hollywood Boulevard and had to change it...

Thursday morning I caught up on some RNR and slept in. I, later, trekked out to the "new" old house to clean up some of the chunks from the electricians and sweep. The chunks were plaster and wood... big chunks, so THAT was a workout... I found out that the windows will arrive in 2 weeks. Finally, things are falling into place. Since I did my free meal Wednesday, and date night has been switched to Thursday, I'm kept my food clean. No alcohol. No dessert. I had a slice of grainy dark bread, spinach salad, prime rib, steamed veggies/hold the butter and a lot of water. I couldn't post anything on Thursday because Blogger was down.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

I didn't get to bed until 1:30 am this morning, so I'm a little draggy. I had my car towed to the dealership for repairs, finally... I was planning on taking our beat up '89 Honda Accord to get to my chiropractor's appointment but there were no keys... When I called to reschedule my appontment, the receptionist was somewhat snippy with me for changning the appointment so close to the appointment time... Sheesh! It's not like I had a choice there... Then I got to be on hold for well over an hour, and being sent to different department just to move an outside phone line from the backyard pole to the front yard pole... The line in the back yard is something that bugs Michael... It's purely for asthetics... I also set up a new phone number for the "new" old house...

I'll be getting in my workout soon. I'm going to do Yourself! Fitness again today, but make the wokrout 45 minutes instead, and see what that's like.

Monday, August 07, 2006

One more scheduled week of not running to go... It's driving me nuts but now I'm waking up in the morning and the ankle isn't even stiff, so that's a good sign!!! I have a new pair of running shoes that I bought a few months ago, different innersoles, and a bunch of Powergels that I have yet to use... I am so good to go.

Today I gave Yourself! Fitness a whirl. My virtual trainer, Maya, gave me a workout based on information I entered and based on an assessment workout. Today I selected a 30 minute workout for my core. Most of the exercises at the start were somewhat easy for me, so after a segment you can select that it was too easy, just about right, or too difficult. Most everything in the middle was a teensy bit challenging, but I felt like I needed more. The only segment that was where it should be was the yoga segment. I need to work on balance. Based on the info I entered today, the next time I do the Y!F workout it should be a little more difficult. I do feel rejuvinated, though, because it started out with a little aerobics at the beginning. Color me happy!

I've been tracking my food on Fitday.com and a couple of days I came up short! I'm shooting for about 1500 calories when I don't run, and 1800+ for running. I also came up short on protein, so now I need to work in more protein without dairy.

Other stuff:I want to post some pictures of a photo shoot I did for a friend dressed as Jack Sparrow, but I'm working on getting a digital watermark before I post them, especially my favorite shots.

6 years ago, when I began BFL, I belonged to an on line BFL group for women over 40. The site has dwindled down to just 5 of us, but we keep it going since we've grown somewhat close. With all of my running talk and marathon stuff, one of the other ladies became interested and ran in her first half marathon last week. I'm so proud of her! She even got her husband to run it, too! Now she has the running bug and wants us to run in an event together, so I'm pondering the Phoenix Rock N Roll half marathon in January 2007... We've never met since we live in different states, but that would be awesome if we could meet and do a run event.

I was sifting through some past photos, trying to find my original BFL before shots (UGH), and came across some picutures that I almost forgot about... This picture is about three years old. That baby is my grandson as a new person... I guess the dog felt like she had to protect the little guy. LOL. What gets me is the expression on my dog's face. Sort of like "What? I'm on the job!" LOL... After that incident, we put the dog outside during nap time...

Friday, August 04, 2006

I had to be out at the "new" old house this morning for my range and dishwasher delivery and actually remembered to bring my camera. Blogger was being kind today and I was able to upload more than 3 pictures without my computer exploding.

These next three photos are of my zinnias. I was playing around with the shutter speed and macro setting for these shots:

Finally, this last photo is of a "volunteer" sunflower bud. Either a bird dropped the seed or someone was eating sunflower seeds in the back yard. I like this shot because there's a little bug hiding in the petals to be.

I'll post a later about workout stuff and all about the photo shoot I did for my friend who looks remarkably like Jack Sparrow. OMG, it was fun. There's pictures to post but he has the media card, so I will have to wait for him to return it.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Today was an UBW with dumbbells - Circuits, high reps low weights. I'm still dealing with twinges of tendinitis in my left arm from MONTHS ago, so I can't go too heavy, which is frustrating at times, but at least I can do something.

Food is clean, probably a little low on calories, but the day isn't over yet...

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

I did some real cardio for the first time in a month. I did 30 minutes of the recumbent bike at the gym, somewhat of an HIIT, but not really too high of an intensity, since this was the first day back doing anyting that would requre ankle movement. I did the actual HIIT in the first 20 minutes, though, and just did a cool down pedal for the remaining 10. SO FAR, the ankle/foot feels okay. My PT friend suggested that I ice it as a precaution.

I was supposed to get together with my PT friend today for pictures and measurments, but it didn't work out today, so we're going to try again, perhaps on Friday.

Food is clean. I boiled some chicken breasts that I had in the freezer, shredded that, and have it ready to go for salads this week, plus the salad stuff is already prepped. I'm happy to say that there's no junk food in the house as of right now. I didn't need to do any purging because it's just gone. Maybe my kids ate it all? Maybe the nutrition fairy paid a visit and took everything bad away? The trick is to get everyone to NOT buy anymore junk. Peace

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

A new month, a new challenge... This month I am actually planning to incorporate weight training with half marathon training. I hope I can do this since marathon training wiped me out from even thinking about doing weights once I got into those long runs over 10 miles... I'll be following a plan from Runnersworld.com, from the Smart Coach program. It's pretty cool. You enter in a previous event finish time and that distance, then the next planned event's distance and how many weeks you want to train. It prints out a training schedule based that info. Initially, I printed out a 10 week training schedule but I'll probably do the 8 week schedule since it's a half marathon I'm training for.

I'm not sure when I'll get in some sort of workout today, but I'm feeling like I really need one. I've got a case of the fluffies.

I finally found Yourself! Fitness for Playstation 2 on Ebay. I purchased it for about $30. It came in yesterday and I have yet to view it, but I've heard great reviews about it. I suppose it could be a great crosstraining/non-running day workout.

All is quiet on the western front... I'm playing nurse to my daughter today, who just had her wisdom teeth removed. She's fine, just sleepy and dopey from the anesthesia.

True

"I bought a ticket to the world, but now I've come back again"

-Spandau Ballet

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